5 Live Investigates

Anna Boniface was selected to run for England after she became the first non-elite woman to finish the London Marathon in 2017. But over-training and under-eating meant her dreams were short-lived because she failed to finish the event after suffering a stress fracture to her ankle. She was later diagnosed with a condition known as Energy Deficiency in Sport - brought on by pushing her body to the limit and failing to refuel properly. The condition affects hundreds of young athletes and can lead to serious eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. It can also weaken bones, stop women athletes from having periods and dramatically reduce testosterone levels in men. As the TrainBrave campaign is launched to raise awareness of the condition, 5 Live Investigates hears from those suffering the consequences. They include a young cyclist left with the bones of an 80-year old, and an Olympic hopeful forced to give up athletics in her mid-20’s after four spinal fractures brought on by her diet. photo credit: kbsc

The LGBT people trapped in abusive relationships because they say the police don’t take them seriously and they can’t access support services. 5 live Investigates has discovered the number of gay, bisexual and trans men and women involved in recorded domestic abuse crimes is going up. But experts say the figures represent only a fraction of the abuse in the LGBT community. One LGBT domestic abuse charity has told the programme it’s seeing more than double the number of victims it was seeing five years ago. But thousands don’t bother reporting because they think they’ll get a negative response from the police.

Nine out of 10 people who buy a new home report so-called 'snagging' issues according to a new survey seen by 5 live Investigates. The New Homes Review 2018 is an independent survey of 687 people who've bought new homes within the last year. Craig Wakeman and his partner Tracy Bickford bought their £325,000 three-bedroom dream home from developers Bovis in November 2016. The couple and their two daughters were eventually forced out of the property after 354 faults were discovered in a series of surveys. Two years since buying the house near Worcester, the family still aren't able to move back in. Mr Wakeman tells 5 live Investigates: "We're in a position where we own a house that we can't live in, that we can't sell, that's got that many faults in it you're always going to question whether of not the house is going to be right. We've asked Bovis homes to take the keys back and take the home off us but they've refused to do that." Bovis has apologised to the family and says the company is 'completely focussed

Thousands of children with special educational needs are disappearing from education with ‘concerning’ consequences, Ofsted has told 5Live Investigates. Inspectors have admitted that when pupils are ‘off rolled’, they vanish from official records. ‘Off rolling’ is when schools put pressure on pupils to leave without permanently excluding them, in order to reach tough academic targets or save money. 5 Live investigates hears from the parents of children with conditions like autism who say their children are being forced out of schools and are having to be home schooled or taught in inadequate ‘alternative provision’ settings. Photo Credit; Boston Globe / Getty

The businesses that go bust – only to re-emerge under a different name with no debts. There are now calls for tighter regulations around so-called ‘phoenixing’ where companies rise from the ashes of collapsed businesses leaving employees and creditors with huge debts of their own. The practise also costs local authorities and HMRC billions. 5 Live Investigates hears the stories of those who’ve been left out of pocket and from those who want unscrupulous directors outlawed for good. Also, tool thefts from vans and the tradesmen who say their livelihoods are threatened but they can't get the police to take them seriously. Photo Credit = Paul Ellis\Getty

The men who sexually harass women by watching pornography on public transport and other public places. It's been described as a new form of sexual harassment and there have been calls this week for it to be made a criminal offence. 5 live Investigates hears from the women who've been subjected to this behaviour and asks why bus and train companies aren't doing more to block pornography being downloaded via their WiFi networks. The programme also reports on a big rise in the number of hit and runs on Britain’s roads. 5 live Investigates has obtained figures via Freedom of Information requests which show a three-fold increase in just five years. But whilst the number of drivers leaving the scene has shot up – the number facing the courts has fallen dramatically. The programme hears calls for tougher sentencing from those whose lives have been left devastated Photo Credit; Getty Images\LeoPatrizi

Holly Smallman has a series of complex life-limiting conditions. Yet the 16-year-old is among thousands of babies, children and young people who are likely to die young but can't access the care and support they need, according to a report by the All-Parliamentary Group for Children Who Need Palliative Care. They say the Government is failing in its end of life care choice commitment to provide adequate support which represents ‘a wholly unjustified health inequality. Holly's mum Hayley tells 5 Live Investigates: “I’m beyond exhausted. We have to do critical care for Holly out-of-hours ourselves or take her to hospital. After 5pm and at the weekends it’s very frightening”

The online fundraising platforms designed to raise money for good causes – but targeted by fraudsters. Online giving has transformed the way we help the charities we care about - more than £2 billion is raised every year on websites and social media. But 5 live Investigates hears from some of the people who’ve fallen victim to scams including the family of a six year old girl who died from leukaemia. Fraudsters set up a fake fundraising page after her death. There are also calls for a cap on the commission charged by some fundraising platforms amid claims they are taking too much.

E-cigarettes and vaping liquids are being sold to children online and on the high street, 5 live Investigates has discovered. Trading Standards is investigating after researchers on the programme bought prohibited products online. A 16 year old girl was also able to buy vaping products from one in three shops in Camden, London. The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations of 2016 forbid the sale of e-cigarette nicotine products to under-18's. Studies have suggested that young people who vape are more likely to start smoking tobacco products. Photo by Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.

Fraudsters scammed nearly 49000 older people in the UK last year - equivalent to six victims every hour of the day across the UK, 5 Live Investigates has discovered. The figure has almost doubled in three years, but one expert says the true number of victims was likely to be in the millions. 5 live Investigates asked Action Fraud, the UK police's cyber crime reporting centre, for a breakdown of the five most common types of frauds affecting older people. During 2017/18, advanced fee frauds, which include victims being told they have won the lottery but must pay a fee to receive it, were the most common scams with almost 20,000 cases - including 370 victims aged over 90. Computer software service fraud, in which victims are told their computer has been compromised by a virus, was the second most common crime. In one year alone, victims lost more than £135m in these type of scams.

Staff shortages in pathology labs mean patients are facing worrying delays in diagnosis and treatment, according to the Royal College of Pathologists (RCP). 5 live Investigates has been told just three per cent of histopathology departments across the UK have enough staff to meet clinical demand. The programme hears from patients who have faced an agonising wait for test results. The RCP says staff shortages are costing the NHS £27m every year.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Gambling Commission are investigating after 5 live Investigates revealed professional football clubs have included links to gambling websites on junior web pages. Programme researchers discovered 15 clubs in the Premier League, the Championship, League One and the Scottish Professional Football League were in breach of ASA guidelines. Some of the clubs involved have since removed the links. Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield described the findings as 'hugely surprising.' She has also called for education around gambling to made part of the national curriculum in schools. And the parents of Jack Ritchie, who started gambling as a schoolboy, reveal how their son killed himself after becoming addicted to online betting websites.

Whether you're buying a house or a hairdryer, the chances are you'll have looked at an online review site to work out what you're likely to get for your money. The government's Competition and Markets Authority estimates that every year £23 billion of UK consumer spending is influenced by online reviews. But can they all be trusted? 5 live Investigates reveals how easy it is to buy fake five star reviews on one of the world's biggest online platforms and how people are still being paid to leave fake reviews for products sold on Amazon - despite a crackdown by the company more than a year ago.

5Live Investigates examines the routine care people with dementia receive when in an acute hospital. Previously unseen research which was commissioned by the NHS's National Institute for Health Research paints a desperate picture of life on our hospital wards, including a "culture of restraint and containment" in response to resisting care, as well as staff burnout and dehumanisation of patients. The Department of Health says it aims to make England the best place in the world to live with dementia.

Senior fire officers are warning of potential safety risks as more and more people let out their houses to tourists through Airbnb and other short term letting websites. The National Fire Chiefs Council says fire and rescue services are not aware of how many short term rental properties are operating in their areas, making it hard for them to assess possible risks. It says some of these properties are being used in effect as small hotels, but if fire officers don't know where places are they can't inspect or give owners advice to ensure buildings are safe. MPs have called for all properties operating in this way to be registered. The Short Term Accommodation Association, the professional body for the short let sector, says it has adopted the safety standards of the residential long let industry. It says in instances where those standards are not being met it addresses them with urgency.

Thousands of victims of economic and physical abuse are unable to get emergency court orders preventing their abuser from causing them harm because they don't qualify for free legal aid. 5 live Investigates has been given figures by the National Centre for Domestic Violence which reveal that more than 6,000 victims referred to them by the police were unable to access free legal representation. Applicants are means tested and in many cases told they have to make a financial contribution to the legal bill. The NCDV says too many women are turned away because they appear to own assets or savings which are actually under their abuser's control.

The human cost of Britain's crumbling roads. 5 live Investigates hears from the victims and families of those who've been killed in accidents involving potholes. The programme has learned local authorities have had to pay-out £38 million pounds in compensation over the last five years - but that's significantly less than the £9 billion pounds some say it will cost to bring our roads up to scratch. Most of the compensation goes to motorists who've suffered damage to their vehicles. But the biggest pay-outs are reserved for cyclists - the most vulnerable road users of them all. Nearly £7m paid-out to them and their families in the last 5 years.

Charities could have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations after 750 clothing banks were removed from car parks. Recycling companies and charities which operates the banks says up to 20 a week have gone missing in the last 12 months. The Textile Recycling Association says some of the banks have been resprayed and branded with a different charity logo and placed at sites without permission. The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into one charity. There are around 15 thousand textile banks throughout the UK often placed at supermarket carparks and recycling sites. More than 300,000 tonnes of clothing and textiles are collected each year. Some of the banks are run by charities themselves such as The Salvation Army, Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation, but others are operated by private recycling companies who give a donation to their chosen charities - on average £250 for every tonne of clothes collected. Around £75m was given to charities and local authorities last year. The Textil

It's estimated that 1.8 million disabled people are struggling to find accessible housing in the UK. 5 live Investigates has seen research which reveals the average wait in England could be more than 12 years -and that's if nobody else joins the waiting list. The programme hears from Paul Perry - a 26-year-old man who's been trapped in hospital for 18 months. And a man in his 50's with spinal injuries who says he's a prisoner in his own bedroom in an old people's home which isn't equipped to deal with his needs.

Scores of charity shop workers have been investigated for sexually inappropriate behaviour in the workplace in the last 12 months, according to figures obtained by 5 live Investigates. The programme has also learned that convicted paedophiles have been allowed to work in shops because DBS checks haven't been done. The CEO of the organisation Whistleblowers UK says the charity industry is a magnet for people who are predatory. 'The charities sector...is seen as a nice place to be -lots of people who work there are volunteers doing good work. It's almost as if regulation for them is deemed unnecessary because of course everybody who works there would be nice. And yet those are the areas that attract people who are predatory. All of the evidence supports this. We've heard about inappropriate relationships between members of staff, between staff and volunteers and also volunteers raising concerns about the way staff have interacted with vulnerable children and teenagers.'.